Here we are at last, readers! This experiment is on the final chapter! So, here we go!
It was a lot quicker for the Pride Team to get to the exit to the Underground World of the Dinosaurs than it was to get to Lava Falls. That's because Buck led them down a path safe from the dinosaurs and also kept an eye on the baby.
"This is it, Pride Team. Right where you started. This was fun! We could make it a regular thing." Buck told his friends.
Daggett was quick to agree, "Okay." However, Norbert was a different story. "Uh, I don't know about that, my main weasel."
"Right! Right. Yes, because of all the mortal peril, of course." Buck chuckled, reminding himself of the danger. Now they were standing in front of the cave, their ticket back up to the surface. Now, it was time for Buck to say goodbye to the Pride Team. "Oh well, the Buck stops here."
Everyone gave him sad and thankful smiles. "We couldn't have done it without you." Manny said.
"Well, obviously. But, good times, just the sa-" Buck then felt hot winds blow against his back, making him freeze. "We're not alone, are we?" Within the cave, big red-yellow eyes opened and glared at the Pride Team in the darkness.
Everyone looked scared of what was in the cave. "No, dude. Turn around." Pansear informed the weasel in fear.
Buck held his knife out and turned to whoever was in the cave. "Hello, Rudy." He still gave out a grin.
The beast, Rudy, managed to get himself out of the cave after he somehow entered and stood tall. Rudy happened to be a big white Baryonyx. He then gave out a loud roar.
"Remember what I said about the beast's name when we first got here? I take it all back." Cat said in fear.
"RUN!" Buck shouted to his friends and began to lead them away from Rudy. But after the beast tried to take a bite out of them, the Pride Team got separated from Buck.
And, if that wasn't enough, Rudy quickly turned his attention to them. The Pride Team huddled close together as Rudy smiled and got ready to eat them.
"Over here, you colossal fossil!" Buck suddenly called out. Getting a quickly annoyed Rudy's attention. Buck then held out his knife for the beast to see. "Looking for something?"
With his eyes on the knife, Rudy licked the spot where his tooth was missing. His upper lip was forever cracked and unable to heal properly. Now, the dinosaur turned his full attention to the same weasel that got away from him before.
"Why don't you come and get it?" Buck then turned to start leading Rudy away. "To the cave! Go!" As Buck ran, Rudy gave chase.
Max realized right away that Buck was sacrificing himself in order for the Pride Team to escape. And one thing's for sure, the Pikachu leader was not gonna let Buck's life end like this. Buck saved them more than once, now was the time to save him!
Max turned to most of the team at the cave. "You guys stay here! Keep Peaches safe!" He told them firmly.
"We'll be just fine! Go! He needs your help!" Kate replied urgently.
Max nodded, then he, Riolu, Manny, Diego, and even Sid raced off to save Buck.
Buck was swinging from the trees, screaming, and avoiding Rudy's jaws. He was trying his best to give his friends some time.
Max and the other four still raced off to save their friend, they didn't even acknowledge the same Ankylosaurus they encountered when they first entered the underground world. Well, Riolu noticed him shaking and hiding from Rudy. That was enough to annoy the Fighting-Type.
"Chicken!" Riolu called the cowardly dinosaur before he ran to catch up to the others.
Now out of trees, Buck had no choice but to run on the ground with Rudy close behind him. Rudy then got on his knees and slammed one of his claws on Buck, the knife landed on the ground after that. Rudy grinned evilly, but waited just to see if he really did finish off the weasel.
However, Buck was able to easily squeeze out from between Rudy's two fingers. "Pop goes the weasel!" He grabbed his knife and began to run again.
Rudy stood up and used the ground to his advantage. With his tail, he slammed on the ground and sent Buck flying high. Buck screamed while Rudy opened his mouth wide.
Just before Buck could fall inside Rudy's mouth, Riolu came flying by after jumping off multiple big rocks, and caught Buck and landed on the ground just as Rudy slammed his mouth shut.
Placing his friend down, Riolu and Buck turned to Rudy who growled angrily at the two of them. Buck then saw some more giant butterflies and rushed over to them. "Shoo! Shoo! Come on, move!" The butterflies then began to fly all around Rudy's face. That angered the Great White Beast as he tried to swat them away.
"Riolu! Catch!" While avoiding Rudy's big foot, Max tossed a vine to Riolu who ran and caught it and continued to run around the dinosaur. Manny tossed another vine to Diego and the tiger began to run around the dinosaur as well. The four of them avoided the feet as they began to tie him.
Buck was swinging around and began to tie up Rudy's mouth and arms with some more vines, avoiding Rudy's teeth and claws as he did.
As for Sid, he was helping out by slowly and carefully tying a messy knot on the rock. "Through the hole, over the valley. One more loop..."
Buck was pulling hard with one final swing. "Come on, team! Heave!"
Max, Riolu, and Manny grunted as they pulled hard on the vines. Rudy then lost his balance and began to fall to his knees, then he crashed on his front, narrowly missing Buck who just stood there. Just before he went unconscious, Rudy moaned in defeat.
"Better luck next time, Snowflake." Buck gave the dinosaur a sympathetic pat on the snout. "This isn't gonna hold him long! Let's go!" Buck then began to lead Max, Riolu, Manny, Sid, and Diego back to the cave.
But Sid was lagging behind them. "Hold up, guys!" He accidentally tripped on one of the vines and broke it. He fell to the ground close to Rudy's head.
When Sid looked at Rudy, the big dinosaur's eyes shot open and gazed at the sloth. Sid screamed and tried to back away just as Rudy began to stand back up. The other five turned back in horror just as Rudy easily broke free from the vines. He then began to move over to Sid who screamed in horror and shut his eyes tight, bracing himself to be eaten.
Then suddenly, Momma Dinosaur came and began to push Rudy over the ledge to save Sid. "Way to go, Momzilla!" Sid cheered, happy to see that his Dino-friend came to save him.
Momma T-Rex finally shoved Rudy behind a rock that crumbled behind him. Rudy began to fall back off a cliff, much to Buck's horror, as the beast roared a scream and then fell down to the dark abyss below. Vanishing from sight, Rudy's scream then faded into nothing.
Having dealt with her worst nightmare, Momma Rex then roared in victory. The T-Rex triplets roared along since they followed her all the way here. Sid tried to follow their example, but was not very good at it.
The rest of the Pride Team rushed over and saw what happened.
"Hey, that's the same dinosaur that took Sid in the first place." Pansear whispered to his brothers.
"Amazing, she came back to save him." Pansage whispered back.
"Now that's quite a turn of events. I'm so glad that Sid bonded with her!" Panpour said happily.
"The question is how did their bond even happen?" Crimson asked in confusion.
"I'm gonna say that her motherly instincts are responsible for the bond." Light said. Rockruff then shushed them so they can watch as Sid slowly approached the T-Rex family.
The babies finally see the female T-Rex as their real mother and began to nuzzle her. The T-Rex family turned to smile sadly at Sid who gave them the same kind of smile in return.
"Come here, kids." Sid got the kids to come to him. "Well, let me tell you something. You're where you belong now. And I'm sure you're gonna grow up to be giant, horrifying dinosaurs, just like your mother." He gazed up at Momma T-Rex who then lowered her head to the sloth. "Momma... Take good care of our kids."
Momma Rex gave the sloth a gentle lick as a promise and as a form of a goodbye kiss. Then Sid was able to hug the triplets just one last time. Momma Rex then began to make her way back to Lava Falls with the babies following her. Sid watched as the T-Rex family began to make their way back to Lava Falls, then they were finally out of sight. Sid sighed sadly, but he knew that this is for the best.
Max then walked over and gently pat Sid on the arm. "You were a good parent to them, Sid. I was wrong about what I said back up on the surface, you DO have the right qualities to be a parent. Someday, you'll find true love and then have children of your own. And no matter what happens, they'll always love you." Manny nodded in agreement at that.
"Thanks, Max." Sid said. Then as Max and Manny began to walk away, Sid got pretty hopeful as he looked at the mammoth. "Hey, Manny. Can I babysit for you and Simba when his child comes?"
Manny shook his head right away. "Not a chance."
"Aw, come on. I work cheep!" Sid pleaded.
Manny rolled his eyes, "Alright, I'll talk to Simba about it and we'll both think about it."
Sid happily hugged Manny's tusk and began to join the others. "Yes!"
Making sure Sid couldn't hear him, Manny turned to Max and Riolu. "Never happening."
"Maybe he'd be fine if Timon and Pumbaa help out as well." Riolu said.
Max chuckled quietly, "Good luck with that."
Diego smiled as he watched them walk away. Then he turned to see that Buck was still looking at the spot where Rudy fell to his death, as quiet as a mouse.
"He's gone. What am I supposed to do now?" Buck asked himself. Rudy may be dangerous, but he was the reason Buck became the weasel he is today, so he had no idea what to do now that he doesn't have a giant rival anymore.
"That's an easy one." Kate said. Buck turned to see the Pride Team standing in front of him. "Come with us. We've got plenty of room in the Pride Team for you." The others nodded in agreement.
Buck was surprised to hear that they were offering him a spot on their team with them. "You mean up there?" He sighed and looked back at the jungle. "I never thought of going back. I've been down here so long, it feels like up to me." He looked up at the ice ceiling. "I'm not sure I can fit in up there anymore."
Riolu just shrugged. "So? Look at us. Do we look like a normal team or members of a pride to you?" The team then gave him silly smiles, even if Manny had to whack Sid and Norbert had to nudge Daggett to get them to smile in a silly way as well.
Seeing that Riolu was right, and that he cared so much about them in the short amount of time he got to know them. Buck smiled sadly at the team.
Looks like the Pride Team added yet another member to the pride.
Now leaving the Underground World of the Dinosaurs behind them, the Pride Team began to climb up the skeleton bridge to get back up to Ice Age Valley. Sid held on to Manny's tail to support him, he was panting in exhaustion.
Buck was the last one off the bridge. He paused to look back to the entrance to the Dino-World, his heart still aching for the rival he lost. He held out his knife, and finally decided that he didn't need it anymore. He felt like it wasn't right to just take it with him after what happened.
"So long, big guy." He said to the spirit of Rudy. Then he stabbed the knife to the ground, and gave it a little pat. He began to walk off to join the others, but his ears perked up when he heard a familiar monstrous roar echoed and can be heard in the cave.
The others heard it as well. "Okay, everyone. That's our cue. Time to go home!" Riolu motioned for the others to follow him as he took the lead. "Come on, Peaches." Manny nudged his daughter forward as she happily followed the others.
None of them thought the roar was familiar, except for Max, thanks to his Pikachu ears. He looked at Buck and then looked sad when saw that the weasel turned his body to the direction of the roar.
"He's alive!" Buck whispered. He was amazed that Rudy survived the fall after all.
Max rejoined Buck, looking both sad and worried. "Buck?"
Since his rival was still alive, Buck couldn't leave after all. Because he knew that Max was rather clingy to his friends, he tried to reason with him. "I...I gotta..."
Buck stopped when he saw Max giving off a soft smile of understanding. That was enough to surprise Buck. "Yeah." Max replied. It seems he had a bit of a change himself.
"Besides, this world should really stay down here." Buck said, smiling back at the leader. "Take care of them, Volt Boy."
"Always listen to Buck." Max quoted rule number 1 with a farewell nod.
"Look! We're almost out!" Dog's voice echoed. Max gave Buck one last goodbye wave before he raced off to join the rest of the team.
Buck smiled, looking at his friends for the last time. He hoped that one day he would see them again. Then, he grabbed his knife once again. There's one thing left for him to do for the Pride Team.
So, with a wide smile, he snapped one vine and began to swing back to the Underground World of the Dinosaurs. "RUDY!" Buck cried happily as he snapped more vines with his knife, destroying the bridge to prevent something like the events that happened yesterday from ever happening again. Buck cheered and swung back to the Underground World of the Dinosaurs to continue his fight with Rudy while the skeleton behind him fell down to the dark abyss below.
Max, seeing that Buck destroyed the bridge was running and jumping to avoid the falling rocks. Just as Riolu and the others got back in the snowy grounds near Ice Age Valley, Max jumped out of the hole just in time. The Pikachu panted in relief as he joined his friends.
"Is everybody okay?" Manny asked the others.
It was after that question that they realized that they were missing someone. "Where's Buck?" Eddie asked.
Max frowned in sadness, but then he smiled sadly when he looked back at the hole. "Don't worry. He's where he wants to be right now."
While surprised that their leader was taking this pretty well, Crash and Eddie are still sad by the fact that their idol changed his mind. "Is he gonna be okay?" Crash asked.
Max's sad smiled turned into a happy smile. "Are you kidding? Nothing can kill that weasel. It's Rudy I'm worried about." Crimson, Pansear, and Diego nodded in agreement at that.
Riolu then suddenly pushed Max away from the others so that the two of them can have a private talk. "Max, I'm surprised. You're taking this rather well. You're not gonna be all depressed by the fact that Buck decided to stay underground, are you?"
Max looked serious as he shook his head. "No, Riolu. That's the old me. The one that would turn into a big crying electric sack just because he's scared that his friends wouldn't be around him to have a good time anymore. But, after our adventure to save Sid, I've realized that I can't keep the ones I love bound to me forever. Doing so would be selfish on my part. So, even if Diego still decides to go off alone... I'll wish him good luck on his journey with a smile on my face." Max then smiled at his partner. "And that goes for you and the rest on the team, too. Everyone has their own choices in life, Riolu. And whatever they decide to do, I'll be doing something myself but I'll also support them in spirit every step of the way."
Riolu smiled at his partner. "That was well said, partner. I'm proud of you, and I'm sure Rafiki would be proud to hear you say that too." Riolu and Max then turned to see Peaches giggling and playing with the snow after Ellie gently placed her on the snow.
Riolu went over to join the rest of the team. Max was about to follow, when a light from the sky shined down on him all of a sudden. "You did well, Max." A familiar voice said from above.
Max recognized the voice and was surprised as he looked up at the sky. "Mufasa? Is that you?"
"The important part in being a leader is looking after your teammates, that much is true. However, it's also wise to be supportive of your teammates whatever they decide to do in life. You've taken yet another step in being a great leader. And I'm proud of you for letting your friend do what he wants to do." Mufasa told Max. The wind blew around the Pikachu along with a few leaves.
Max smiled with his eyes closed as the leaves circled around him. "Well, it's like you said before: 'We're all connected in the great Circle of Life.' Thanks, Mufasa, and take care up there!" After that the wind carried the leaves away and the light died down. Now Max was feeling even better after his talk with the king of Pride Rock from the past. He then walked over to join his friends.
Now that things were back to normal, Manny decided to talk to Diego again. "I know this whole 'Baby makes three' thing isn't for you, but whatever you decide to do..."
"I'm not leaving, buddy." Diego replied, much to Manny's surprise and confusion. "Life of adventure? It's right here." Diego smiled as he said that.
Hearing them talk, Max was surprised yet happy to hear that Diego decided to stay after all.
Even though he was happy, Manny thought that it was kinda awkward for him now. "But, I got a whole speech here. I've been working on it. How can I show you that I'm strong and sensitive? Nobel yet caring?" Diego answered with a punch to the shoulder. "Ow! Thanks."
They then turned to see Peaches playing with Crash, Eddie, and the Elemental Monkey Brothers in the snow. They laughed and made some snow angels.
"Aww! They grow up so fast!" Dog happily said to Sid.
"Yeah. I mean, look at my kids. Seems like they were born one day and then gone the next." Sid agreed, but it only confused CatDog.
"They were, Sid." Cat pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
Sid slumped at that. "Yeah. That was a lot of work."
Suddenly a lone snowflake slowly came down. Peaches tried to catch it with her trunk, only to accidentally suck it in. That made her sneeze with her trunk sounding like a trumpet. She then giggled happily.
Ellie smiled at her daughter. "That's right, sweetheart. Welcome to the Pride Team."
Peaches giggled and trumpeted through her trunk again just as the Pride Team gathered around her happily.
A week later, the playground was rebuilt along with the ice mobile. It was now better than ever, because instead of having just three mammoths, it also had the nine Pokemon of the Pride Team, Sid, Diego, the possums, the beavers, and CatDog on it now too. The ice mobile also had their friends in the Pride Lands on it; Simba, Nala, Timon, Pumbaa, Zazu, Rafiki, plus a lion cub clearly Simba and Nala's baby.
And on the bottom of the mobile was Buck, modeled to look like he was hanging on a vine with his knife.
"YEEE-HAAA!" Speaking of Buck, he cheered happily while riding on Rudy, using reins around the dinosaur's head. Rudy roared in frustration and stormed off into the jungle, with Buck laughing happily during the ride.
However, there was one surface group that was still stuck underground. Sneasel, Wynaut, and the three hyenas. Sneasel seemed to be relaxing against a tree, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed were still wanting out of here, and Wynaut was pretty much losing his mind.
"I can't take it anymore! They're just taunting us! Listen!" Wynaut was going a bit crazy. Then he heard Buck's laughter echo in the jungle. "STOP LAUGHING AT US, YOU PREHISTORIC TWITS!"
"Wynaut, just calm down." Banzai said in annoyance.
Sadly, Wynaut was still nuts at the moment. "I don't care if I die, I'll teach those Dino-Bozos who's the tough one around these parts!"
"Wynaut, relax." Sneasel stood up to place a calm claw on Wynaut's shoulder. "I know it's hard to be down here underground, surrounded by life that was supposed to be extinct for many centuries, but at least it's better than being up there and getting our butts kicked by those Pride Team bozos! And they were our only problem."
Shenzi rolled her eyes, "Sneasel, face the facts! It's better to be up there, taking our chances with the Pride Team than being stuck down here with those dinosaurs roaming around doing whatever they want!"
Banzai agreed with her, "And, man, I'm beginning to hate dinosaurs more than I hate lions!"
Sneasel saw that his friends didn't like being stuck down here, and he realized that staying underground was a bad choice after all. "Guys, you're right. This was a mistake, I'm better off dealing with Max than being down here with dinosaurs. I mean, look at them. They're beyond pushy."
"And scaly." Wynaut calmed down as he added that.
"And very stinky." Shenzi added.
"And I think we left out what they really are." Banzai smiled.
The five of them huddled together. "UUUUUUUUGLY!" Banzai, Shenzi, Sneasel, and Wynaut happily finished. Then the five of them began to laugh.
They were busy laughing, they didn't even notice Scratte angrily stomping the acorn to the ground. Scrat, having his lust for acorns come back to him and getting tired of his girlfriend, screamed as he remembered his bad luck in planting acorns.
He tried to get Scratte to stop, but that resulted in another fight between the two of them.
But the fighting and the laughing stopped when the acorn was buried too deep. All seven of them froze when the ground cracked a circle around them. That made Ed chuckle nervously. Just after the chuckle, all seven of them were blown sky-high on a rock by a small eruption. Now they were blasting off towards the ice ceiling like a rocket. Some of the dinosaurs saw this and are wondering what was going on now.
They were all screaming in alarm and hanging on to the rock for dear life. They began to climb up higher as the rock began to break off like a space ship. Since he didn't have any claws like his friends, or sharp teeth like the two squirrels with them, Wynaut was hanging on to Sneasel's back for dear life. They finally got to the top when Scrat and Scratte held on to the acorn.
When they looked at each other's eyes, Scratte gave off a groan of love. Scrat, unfazed this time, just gave off a cheeky wink and pulled the acorn off the rock. That made Scratte's wings open and she screamed as the wind knocked her off the rock and back down to the Underground World of the Dinosaurs.
As Scrat happily hugged the acorn, he, Sneasel, Wynaut, and the hyenas blew right through the ice ceiling just before they let go of the rock, that continued flying up towards the sky, and they landed on the ice.
Wynaut had his eyes closed the whole time, so he had no idea what happened to him and his friends. "Is it over?"
Sneasel looked around and smiled when he saw ice and snow. "It's over! We're back up on the surface!"
All six of them began to dance and cheer happily. For Sneasel's group, they were glad to be away from the dinosaurs. And Scrat was happy he kept his acorn. He kissed and began to taunt an angry Scratte who was now trapped underground.
"Yeah! Those dinosaurs can keep their underground garden now!" Shenzi cheered.
"We can now go back to eating that good food found here in the surface!" Banzai cheered and Ed happily laughed.
Too bad all celebrations were cut short when the ice from the hole they just made thrust the acorn back underground, out of Scrat's paws and closed tight, much to Scrat's horror.
Realizing that Scrat just lost his girlfriend AND his beloved acorn, he was about to lose it right now. And boy Sneasel and his friends didn't want to be around Scrat right now, not when he was about to blow his top.
"All those in favor of running off to the Elephant Graveyard, say 'Aye'." Sneasel said.
"Aye!" Sneasel, Wynaut, Shenzi, and Banzai quickly said. Ed just raised his front paw.
"The Aye's have it! Let's blow this Ice Cube Stand!" Shenzi yelled. Then the five of them screamed and ran away.
After pulling on his eyelids, Scrat let out a loud scream.
The End!
Well, that's it! This experiment has come to an end! Let me know if you want to see more Pride Team adventures or if you want me to stop with just this one as you leave reviews. See ya, and thanks for your time!